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Glute Bridge

The most important exercise for anyone who sits all day. It also relieves lower back pain.

Level Beginner
Equipment None
Sets and reps 3 sets x 15-20
Works on Glutes, lower back

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with knees bent and heels close to your hips.
  2. Rest your arms flat on the floor beside you.
  3. Drive through your heels and lift your hips up.
  4. Squeeze your glutes hard at the top for a second, then lower.

Common mistakes

  • × Lifting with your lower back - the work should come from the glutes.
  • × Going too high - lift only until your body forms a straight line.
  • × Pushing through the toes - drive through the heels instead.
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One thing that matters

Consciously squeeze your glutes at the top. That squeeze is where the benefit is.

How much

Sets and reps for Glute Bridge

Where you are Aim for
Just starting 3 sets x 12
The standard 3 sets x 15-20
Once it is easy 3 sets x 25 with a 3 second hold at the top
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Breathing

Out as you lift the hips, in as you lower. Do not hold the breath at the top - squeeze and breathe.

Too hard, or too easy?

Where this sits

You are here Glute Bridge 3 sets x 15-20

Beginner · None

Harder → Single Leg Glute Bridge 3 sets x 10-12 each leg

Move up when glute bridge stops being a challenge.
Questions

Glute Bridge, answered

Why do I feel glute bridges in my hamstrings?

Your feet are too far from your body. Slide them closer until your fingertips can nearly touch your heels. The closer the feet, the more the glutes take and the less the hamstrings do.

How do I make glute bridges harder without weights?

Pause three seconds at the top, then go to one leg at a time. A single leg bridge roughly doubles the load with nothing to buy.

Should I feel this in my lower back?

No. If you do, you are arching at the top instead of squeezing. Stop lifting when your body makes a straight line from knee to shoulder, and tuck your hips slightly rather than pushing higher.

One exercise is never the whole story

Which day to do Glute Bridge, how many sets, and what to pair it with - the AI builds the whole plan. Your first one is free.

Build My Free Plan
Glutes

You can also try

🍑 Beginner

Donkey Kicks

Glutes

One side at a time. You are on hands and knees, so there is no load on your lower back.

3 sets x 15 each leg →
🍑 Beginner

Fire Hydrants

Side glutes, hips

On all fours, lifting one knee out to the side. It looks silly and it works the side of the backside that almost nothing else reaches.

3 sets x 15 each side →
🍑 Intermediate

Single Leg Glute Bridge

Glutes, hamstrings

A glute bridge with one foot in the air, so one side carries everything. Twice the work for the same effort.

3 sets x 10-12 each leg →
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This is general information, not medical advice

Everything on this page is worked out from a formula or from published averages. It has never met you, and it cannot see your blood pressure, your medication or an old injury.

Talk to a doctor before you start if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a heart condition, diabetes or high blood pressure, take regular medication, have or have had an eating disorder, are recovering from injury or surgery, or are under 18. Stop and get advice if any exercise causes pain, dizziness or chest discomfort.

More about where these numbers come from is on the about page.